1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to knife holders, such as knife holding blocks that hold a plurality of knives, and in particular to knife holders having safety locks that prevent the knives from being removed from the knife holder.
2. Description of Related Art
Knife holders for holding a plurality of knives, typically in the form of wooden blocks having a plurality of slots, are well known. The most common form of these knife holding blocks are designed to be placed on a countertop so that the knives will be readily accessible. Since the knives are readily accessible, it is desirable to include some type of locking mechanism to prevent the knives from being removed from the block, for example, by young children.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,756 discloses a lockable knife block in which a separate spring-loaded locking and latching device is provided for each of the slots in the knife block. Each of the devices engages a notch formed in the upper portion of the blade of each knife to prevent each of the knives from being removed from the knife block. While effective, the knife block is large and bulky, and a large amount of hardware is required in order to lock all of the knives in the knife holder because a separate locking device is required for each knife.
While the typical knife block is designed for placement on a countertop, countertop space is rather limited in many homes, particularly for mobile homes and other recreational vehicles, which typically include very small kitchens and even smaller countertops. Additionally, since mobile homes and recreational vehicles are moved from place to place, it is highly desirable to provide a locking mechanism to prevent the knives from inadvertently being displaced from the knife holder during movement of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,672, to the inventor of the present invention, discloses a slidable knife holder that occupies a small amount of space, and can be readily mounted, for example, under or in cabinets, over sinks, or under counters. Additionally, the knife holder is slidably mounted so that it can be moved between a retracted position, where it is stowed out of the way, and an extended position, where the knives can be accessed. The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,672 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The slidable knife holder disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,672, does not include any locking mechanism to prevent the knives from being accidentally removed from their slots, or to prevent the knife holder from accidentally sliding from the retraced position to the extended position.
Thus, there is a need for a knife holder that includes a simple locking mechanism for locking a plurality of knives in a knife holding block. There also is a need for a slidable knife holder that can be locked in the retracted position.
It is one object of embodiments of the invention to provide a knife holder that addresses the shortcomings in previous devices described above.
According to one aspect of the invention, a knife holder includes a knife holding block having a plurality of knife holding slots, each slot for receiving a knife therein. The knife holder also includes a knife locking mechanism that is movably engaged with the knife holding block. The knife holding mechanism is selectively movable to alternately (a) simultaneously lock knives located in all of the knife holding slots so that the knives cannot be removed from any of the knife holding slots, and (b) simultaneously unlock knives located in all of the knife holding slots so that the knives can be removed from all of the knife holding slots.
According to one embodiment, the knife locking mechanism includes a locking member that is selectively movable between an unlocked position and a locked position. When in the unlocked position, the locking member is not located in any of the knife holding slots such that the knives can be removed from all of the slots. When in the locked position, the locking member is located in all of the knife holding slots such that knives cannot be removed from any of the knife holding slots. Preferably, the locking mechanism also includes a biasing element, for example, a spring, that biases the locking member toward the unlocked position.
According to one embodiment, each of the knives includes an engagement portion, for example, a notch located in a blade portion of each of the knives. The knife locking member of the knife locking mechanism simultaneously engages the engagement portion (notch) of the knives located in all of the knife holding slots in order to simultaneously lock the knives in all of the knife holding slots.
When the knife holder is a slidable knife holder, the knife holder preferably includes a slidable mount having first and second portions. The first portion is attached to the knife holding block, whereas the second portion includes an attachment element that enables the second portion to be mounted to a support, such as a cabinet or the under surface of a counter. The second portion is slidably engaged with the first portion such that the knife holding block is slidable relative to the second portion between a retracted, stored position, and an extended position in which knives held in the knife holding slots are readily accessible. In this embodiment, it is preferable to include a block locking mechanism that selectively locks the knife holding block in the retracted, stored position. The block locking mechanism preferably includes a block locking portion that is engageable with the second portion of the slidable mount when the knife holding block is located in the retracted, stored position in order to lock the knife holding block in the retracted, stored position.
According to a preferred embodiment, the block locking portion is a surface of the movable locking element that also functions to lock the knives in the slots of the knife holding block. Accordingly, a simple structure can be provided that simultaneously locks the knife holding block in the retracted, stored position while locking the knives in their respective slots of the knife holding block.